Work-Life Balance? No Problem, Women Say

Women say it is possible to have work-life balance and many report they're juggling the demands of career and family just fine, thank you.

The study, conducted by Citi, surveyed women about their attitudes in the workplace. The research also found that women don’t believe the myth that they can't have it all in their work and personal lives. Ninety-five percent of women believe they can attain everything they want at work and at home. Additionally, 63 percent of women said they have a good work-life balance, though 42 percent of women hope to be able to work from home more often.

Those feelings may stem, in part, from steps toward financial equality. Seventy-five percent of women said they are either the primary breadwinners or earn the same amount as their partners. Additionally, 97 percent of women said they are the primary financial decision maker or share those responsibilities with their spouse.

Though the women surveyed generally feel good about their work-life balance, they also have a number of gripes about their careers. The most prominent of these complaints are pay, politics at the office and their role at work. To that end, just 38 percent of women believe they will advance to a leadership position at their company. A lack of opportunity and not being interested in staying at a company long enough to be promoted are two of the top reasons why women have those feelings.

"The survey results illustrate how women aren’t just looking up towards senior leadership roles at their current employers — they’re looking out for themselves, their families and their careers by exploring new options to enable their own progress," said Linda Descano, managing director and head of digital partnerships at Citi and president and CEO of Women & Co., a personal-finance resource for women.

The trend of women moving to other companies appears to be increasing as well, the research found. More than half of Generation Y respondents (those born in the 1980s and 1990s) said they see themselves working at another company or in a different industry in 10 years, while just 24 percent of women ages 35 and older said they see themselves moving on to another company.

"This survey absolutely reinforces what we’ve been hearing for the past year on Connect," said Jacky Carter, LinkedIn community manager for Connect: Professional Women’s Network. "We know professional women are passionate about their work, their families and their personal growth, and it’s rewarding to see the transparency of our group trickle into this truly revealing study."

The research was based on a sample of 954 professional women LinkedIn members and was a part of the second Today's Professional Woman Report, sponsored by LinkedIn and Citi.